"A soul connection is a resonance between two people who see each other's essential beauty, behind their facades, and who connect on this deeper level. This kind of mutual recognition provides the catalyst for a potent alchemy. It is a sacred alliance whose purpose is to help both partners discover and realize their deepest potentials." Men and women are searching for deeper meaning and purpose in their everyday lives and in their relationships. In his groundbreaking new book, Love and Awakening , which takes up where his best-seller Journey of the Heart left off, renowned author and psychotherapist John Welwood, Ph.D., points the way. He shows how intimate relationship is a powerful spiritual teacher that can help two people discover their deepest capacities and resources, while learning to relate to each other in a more honest, enriching, and enlivening way. Starting out by addressing the question that inevitably arises in every relationship-- "What am I doing here, is this really worth the struggle?"-- Love and Awakening sets forth a compelling new paradigm of relationship as a path of soulwork. Welwood shows how every psychological obstacle arising between two lovers provides a special kind of spiritual opportunity-- to tap into hidden inner resources and go deeper with each other. The book offers not only a new vision, but also a wealth of practical guidance to help couples work with their most difficult problems, through learning to relate to the whole range of their experience with greater awareness and loving-kindness. Also included are lively dialogues from Welwood's relationship workshops that dynamically illustrate the book's core ideas and demonstrate simple, direct ways to connect more deeply with oneself and one's partner. Written in a poetic style that remains faithful to the spirit of love, with chapters ranging from "Soulwork and Sacred Combat" and "The Power of Truth-Telling," to "The Inner Marriage" and "Men in Relationship," this book will compel and inspire readers to approach their relationships in a whole new way. As two people learn to let their love awaken them from the frozen habits of past conditioning, they embark on the path of "conscious relationship." Love and Awakening is about much more than just making a relationship work; it's about how a relationship can make one's whole life work in a richer, more deeply satisfying way.

Unlike other guides that focus on how to make relationships work, this groundbreaking book teaches couples how their relationships can make their lives work. Combining the practical advice of Harville Hendrix with the spiritual guidance of Thomas Moore, it shows couples how their relationships can help them discover their sacred selves in such chapters as "The Power of Truth-Telling", "The Inner Marriage", "Men In Relationship" and "Soulwork and Sacred Combat". Along the way, it provides a wealth of practical guidance on how to deal with difficult problems and includes lively dialogues from Welwood's workshops that dynamically illustrate his core ideas. Men and women are searching for deeper meaning and purpose in their everyday lives and relationships. Love and Awakening fills this need. It is a book couples will want to read together.